>> now we follow the money and take you inside the vatican's financial empire. >> when it comes to money, this is one of the sloppiest organizations on earth... >> al jazeera america presents... holy money only on al jazeera america ♪ this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i am thomas drayton. let's get you caught up on the top stories of this hour. the struggle to find the truth: investigators searching for clues to the destruction of the malaysian flight 17 find themselves in the middle of a tension situation. >> grinding on toward the fourth day in gaza. paying a price forfaith, christians in northern iraq flee their homes for safety.

♪ good to have you with us. in the ukraine today, international monitors got limited access to the site where malaids i can't airlines flight mh-15 was shot down. they have not agreed to clear a cave corridor for international investigators. ukraine's government is accusing rebels of looting the site, removing items from what should be declared a crime scene. rebels have removed vict isms'bodies to another rebel-held area in donetsk. >> you certainly start from the donetsk administration. there was an important case yesterday a number of borders for me, it's going beyond any

sort of moral ground and moral consideration. >> the dutch foreign minister told crain's president his people are furious over reports that bodies of crash victims were disturbed. international monitors from new york got limited access to the site. ashlingsz's scott heidler was the first t.v. reporter at the scene of the crash. >> the first memorial site for the 298 people aboard flight mh-17. her son's house meters away from the 777. >> it's sad for the people, the pilots, the children. it's awful to see something like this happening in our country. >> after lying uncovered in these fields since the plane fell from the sky, emergency workers put the bodies in bags and laid them on the roadside. these armed separatist fighters came down the hill to our

location where we have been broadcasting for the last couple of hours and for the first time in 48 hours, since this crash happened, we have been told to get out of the area because investigators are coming in. after initial confusion and standoff, the montors were let into the areas of the crash but more negotiation was needed. >> i am saying no to the osce. they was eventually allowed into more areas of the crash site than their trip on friday, which ended with warning shots fired and an early exit. >> the incident flight is rather large we understand because beyond what we have seen, we will consult with those that are in charge here to see whether we get access to the site. >> as the duch foreign minister arrived in kiev with a group, the ukrainian government continued its push for more international access. >> the pro-russia leblz are not allowing investigators to

collect evidence. rescue groups are working under the threat of armed rebels. >> a small step forward for these european monitors but with fighting nearby and access still restricted, any international investigation is still in question. >> scott heidler, al jazeera, ukraine. >> i want to go to phil itner watching this for us in london. good to see you, phil. so many countries touched by this tragedy. do eu leaders see a diplomatic solution in sight? >> reporter: well, they are trying to finds a glom attic solution. they have called for a cell phone ceasefire. there is alternates of communication going on the continent. we know there was a flury of phone calls between various leaders involved. we know british prime minister david cameron gone on the phone with his dutch counterpart and during that conversation, at least after it, they came out and said, you know, all of this might mean the eu has to reconsider its relationship with

russia. >> that's pretty strong words. we have heard a lot of strong language out of london today. the british foreign minister summoned the russian ambassador to the foreign office and said the eyes of the world are watching you, and time is running out for you to actually get on board and try to facilitate getting investigators and so there is an awful lot of language going on. we have heard, of course, also, about a phone call between german chancellor angela merkel and vladimir putin in which she also urged splad vladimir putin to put pressure on those separate toifts make it safe for investigators to come in. as we go into this, thomas, the more this goes away from the initial shock and the sorrow goes away, it is being replaced by some very strong anger. >> there are a lot of powers here at play. how are they planning to tackle this tough issue of recovery? >> reporter: okay. now, there is another very good

question, thomas. how do you get investigators into that area, which is still a war zone? as you mentioned there, the osce, the organization for security and xraks in europe, did getcooperation in the nor in europe, did get a e-mail out at the crash site today. they were pretty much hampered with what they could do but they did not getdid get a e-mail out crash site today. they were pretty much hampered with what they could do but they did not get in there it's important to stress those aren't experts, crash experts. the only reason they had observers was to monitor the conflict. they are not experts. they cannot assess what it is they are seeing but they were able to look at the security measures and things like that. what is imports, also, to mention, thomas, is that there are a lot of international experts who do know what to look for. aviation experts. police experts, medical experts. they are on the ground in ukraine but sitting at the capital because it is not safe to go into that region.

you've got interpol, scotland yard, you have representatives from the u.s., from the dutch. they are all waiting to get in there, and the longer this goes on, the more dit deteriorates ad the more the frustration grows within those experts who wants to get out there. so they are so close, but they can't just get out east of the country where they can actually do what it is they do best. so, trying to get somebody in there is going to be a difficult task. vladimir putin has said he is going to try to exert some influence but until folks are out there, every single minute counts, and they are just sitting in kiev right now. >> we are going to be talking about the u.s. involvement coming up in just a moment. as you said, this is not going to be an easy task. our phil it ner reporting from london. phil, thank you. the u.s. is sending a team of experts to help the ukrainian government find out and figure out what happened but beyond the tragedy, this crash carries a lot of weight diplomatically.

jong terrett is joining us from washington, d.c. how involved is the u.s. >> reporter: it's getting very involved. it was racheted up today by a telephone call between secretary of state kerry and his russian counter part certasergey lavrov one side didn't phone the other out of any kind of emergency desire. it was a meeting that took place over the telephone and within the past half hour or so, we have had a readout from the state department of so some of the things of that were said. according to state secretary kerry expressed the concern that there should be immediate and unfetterred access for emergency workers to go to the crash site. and he also apparently expressed concern that some the of the bodies were being taken away by pro-russian separatists. now, the russian foreign ministry says that the two sides -- kerry and lavrov, agreed to use their influence with both sides in the ukraine conflict to try and end the hostilities. so in the russians' case, that will be the pro-russian separatists and in wash's case, that will be the government in

kiev. according to the russian foreign ministry, both sides agreed any evidence including the black box flight recorder should be handed over into an international body as soon as possible. russians say they want the international civil aviation organization, which is the u.n.'s body, affiliated with the u.n. that looks at air crashes and civil aviation incidents around the world, they want them to be the lead agency. we will see how that pans out. chuck hagel had a conference today on the telephone with his dutch counterpart, and the f.b.i. confirming today that they have sent at least one member of staff from their lab at quantico. and the ntsb member will arrive in kiev today. there is no guarantee that either of these people or anybody else who might follow will be allowed near to the wreckage because that is controlled by the pro-russian separatists, tom. >> you bring up a good point. i want to tackle the latest report that russia is banning some americans from entering. >> reporter: yeah. this is odd. i mean it doesn't

seem to be connected with whhas been happening in crimea and eastern ukraine but the timing is suspicious. the russians have band 12 millions from entering their -- banned 12 members from entering their country, 13 in total. the russians say one was added because on u.s. banned a member of the russian parliament. all of the other 12 are affiliated with guantinamo bay and quantico. it proves the tricky relationship between this city and moscow. on the one hand the secretary of defense stands secretary of defense calling senior counterparts. kerry and lavrov today, they are having top-level conversations agreeing on most things in that conversation. at the same time, the russians are banning 13 americans. it just goes to show you how

difficult the relationship is. these former cold war adversaries come together on so many issues, disagree violently on so many more. of course, they have never disagreed more on the issue of syria and iran. so, it's a very tricky, difficult modern political relationship. >> there is a lot at play. john terrett in washington. john, thank you. >> for more on this, i want to bring in john gulia, a former member of the national transportation safety board. good to see you. here we are, day 3 of the investigation, how does one even coordinate an international endeavor like this? >> this is first time we have had to do international accidents the procedure and process is very well defined in this case, the train is clearly off of the tracks. >> certainly not the first time. is there a different protocol, if you will, when you are dealing with a terrorism investigation? >> well, it's a crime scene so

normally even with a crime scene where the fbi or their counterparts in entinterpol or whatever the police authorities are in the country where the accident occurred, the expertise rests within the aviation community and in those cases, it's the aviation accident investigators who work under the umbrella of the police organization to discover pertinent facts and to maintain the chain of custody for the police so they can be used later on a court of law some are happ happenering the effort. how troubled are you from the investigation standpoint about what you know so far? >>, from what i have seen,mize anxiety level has climbed considerably in the last 24 hours. i saw a picture that i believe had a piece of the airplane on it, maybe it was a wagon. but anyway, the piece of

airplane was being hauled away someplace. i mine that's compromising the scene. i think we have a big problem now getting anything meaningful out of this crash. they have had enough time over there to make sure that they have done an adequate job of covering their tracks, i think. so, i think the on-scene portion of this investigation has been compromised to the point where it's probably not usable. >> usually, the investigation begins right away. here we are, day 3. much has been said about the treatment of the victim's bodies su , such a sensitive topic here do the bodies, themselves, contain any evidence? >> yes for a plast that occurs odds the arirplane. it's like a shotgun and it penetrates into the airplane and oftentimes those fragments can and do become embedded in the passengers' bodies. so, it's not uncommon to x-ray

every single body there looking for any objects that may be stuck inside the body. so, given what now i have heard they are hauling bodies away to some other location. >> uh-huh. >> i mean that may compromise everything in itself. >> i do have one final question here quickly if you can. why was the airspace over eastern ukraine open? i know parts of it was restricted, but why was it remaining to be open? >> one, it was relatively peaceful over those tracks. two, we have become complacent because all of the powers in the world that have missile systems that are powerful enough to reach up to an airplane in excess of 30,000 feet traveling at 600 miles an hour, it takes a sophisticated weapons system to do that. we have kept that away from everybody. this is the first example where a terrorist organization has had

its hands on the latest technology. >> airlines have been cautions. john goglia, thank you for your insight. our coverage of mh-15 will continue in just a few minutes here including a profile of the man believed to be leading the separatist rebels in eastern ukraine. coming up next, we will go live to gaza, in jerusalem to bring you the latest in the continuing israeli military operation and it's impact on the palestinians. j

smoke rises over northern gaza in the wake of another israeli strike. it is day 4 of the ground offenseniv gaza. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying he may expand the operation. since the first exchange of rockets 12 days ago, over 300 palestinian citizens and two israeli citizens have died in morning 2,000 palestinias have been wounded. correspondent nicole johnson is in gaza and joins us with the latest. nicole, what is it like in the areas near the border where fighting is happening? >> reporter: today, i was near an area that is very close to downtown gaza city, only about two or three kilometers away. it was like a ghost town.

the street was quiet. the buildings and shops were closed. houses were empty. you could see cars that had been hit and bombed. you could see houses that had been hit by tank shelling. having said that, there were still some people there. some people had decided that they wouldn't leave, that they wouldn't seek shelter further inside the gaza strip because they believed at this stage, it's not safe anywhere. they say there is no point leaving their home because downtown gaza city is being hit, also. so that's the situation in those border areas and to update you on what's happening tonight, it's a very difficult night in the eastern part and the northern part of the gaza strip. only a couple of kilometers away from where we are, there is the constant sound of tank shelling. we can see those shells are flying over residential areas. there are flares in the sky. so, it's come under a heavy bombardment at the moment. >> we can certainly see and hear it. what are the dmondz of hamas to

broker any kind of cease-fire? >>emands of hamas to broker any kind of cease-fire? >>. >> hamas has been consistent about what its demands are during this entire conflict. so, on the second day of the conflict between both sides, hamas said that it wants a return to the 2012 cease-fire agreement. this was after the lask escalation. is that cease-fire agreement among other things includes an easing or a lifting of the border restrictions because the gaza strip is closed off. nol one living inside can get out through israel. they can't esc port goods. they can't move out through egypt either because the rougher border -- rafah border crossing is closed. hamas needs to show something for this campaign. they say they want a conditional cease-fire. they won't go to a cease-fire until they have some demands met. the other big thing that hamas

is asking for is it wants the release of all of the prisoners who were rearrested over the last couple of weeks, and those prisoners were in the west bank, and they had been freed from jail a few years ago when there was the prisoner swap. the one israeli soldier who was swapped for about a thousand palestinian prisoners. it was a big story at the time. now, those prisoners, the palestinian prisons have about rearrested art past of the israelti clampdown and crackdown on the west bank and hamas says that it will continue its campaign until they are freed again. >> nicole johnston joining us from gaza. nicole, be safe. two israeli soldiers were killed today in gaza. john hendren is joining us from jerusalem. john, there are conflicting reports right now about how many soldiers were actually killed. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: the israeli military tells us that the granted total of soldiers who have been killed in the past 2

for hours is two. they say what happened in that incident is a number of palestinians had infiltrated through to the israeli side of that border with gaza and they encountered a number offisitioni army troops. there was an exchange of fire. two were killed. four of them were injured. we were also told by israel officials that one of the palestinians was killed but the rest of them apparently escaped leaving many of their weapons behind. we asked the israeli military about reports by hamas that there had been as many as 15 israeli troops killed in two separate encounters. they have said, no. >> that's not the case. we should note that there are occasions in which it takes awhile for those numbers to get back to us. usually, any major military like this will notify the families first. they will double-check the stories and the figures with other army officials. but there is also a game with

the numbers that we muoften seen these kind of conflicts where the numbers of enemy dead are exaggerated. so right now, the official number we have from the israeli army is 2. nevertheless, this is a ground invasion, and we expect casualties to rise on both sides as this conflict goes on. >> do you think this loss of life for israel will change their offensive? >> i think it's unling. the israeli prime minister and chief of staff have both emphasized to the israel public that this was going to get harder. by that, they specifically meant that this means that israeli troops are going to likely be killed. it's important to remember that in israel, nearly everybody is eligible for the draft, and so nearly everybody has a family member in the military. >> means that israeli have a

real stake in what happens to those soldiers. so, that is going to be a big issue moving forward. and israelis will be upset if a number of those troops die. never the less, the military and the prime minister's office seem to have prepared the public for the liability that was going to happen. i think it's unlikely i think that would dramatically change the course offents. the israelis said no matter what, they are going to expand this operation and while they are remaining on the outskirts of gaza city, they are remaining in the north and south of the gaza strip. they have not progressed further. well, we do expect a little bit more movement as they follow those tunnels to their ultimate destinations. >> john hendren report from jerusalem. thank you. from jerusalem via skype is alan mcdonald for oxfam's office

for occupied territory in israel. good to have you with us, mr. mcdonald's. what is the situation from viewpoint on the ground right now in gaza? >> well, the situation on the ground in gaza has rea really been getting worst over the past couple of days. we are seeing the number of casualties and the rates increasing. most of these casualties are civilians, many children, particularly in the last few days, women and children being killed. we have seen expensive destruction and vital systems closed. a major concern today is the damage to several power lines, which be means that many are only receiving about four hours of power or in some cases, even less. this makes it very difficult for people at home but it has huge consequences for crucial services like hospitals and mortar pumps which are already struggling to cope with the

crisis. now they are struggle to go keep basic services going. >> when people hear there is going to be a strike, where do they go? can they go anywhere at all? >> well, normally when we see, you know, violence on this level and attacks, you see people leaving the territory, trying to find safety outside. but in gaza, as your correspondent was saying earlier, it's under a blockade which means that the borders are completely closed. most people are not allowed to leave gaza. so when there are airstrikes and attacks, the best that they can do is try to find somewhere else within gaza that might be marginally more safer. and lots of people, thousands of people are sheltering in school buildings, which many offer some protection but dozens of homes have beenshelled. there is really no place for people to go.

maybe finding a place that's a little quieter. >> how many teams do you have in place? are they having a difficult time meeting the demand of the people? >> we have a fairly big team in gaza. we have about 35 staff there at the moment. all of them are local workers. they do a lot of work with local humanitarian organizations as well and it's very, very difficult for them at the moment. the needs are enormous, but because of the execute situation, because of the ongoing offensive and the airstrikes, it's very difficult to move around. so a lot of the work that we would normally be doing such as repairing some of the water infrastructure and giving -- meeting the needs of the people who have to flee their homes is unfortunate. >> as the violence continues, where do we go from here? what's the greatest need right now? >> the greatest need is the cease-fire and by both sides and the longer that this goes on, the more civilians are going to

suffer. and already, the total completely unacceptable and it needs to end soon. but we also need to look at the longer-term issues addressing the blockade, the restrictions on movements of people in gaza, the fact that people in gaza are not allowed to trade with the west bank, for example, the fact that the economy has really been destroyed over the past few years in gaza and has left the poverty in the area greatly increasing, and all of those kind of issues really need addressing if there is to be a long-term peace, not just a short-term cease fire. >> appreciate the work you are doing oxfam spokesperson allun mcdonald. coming up, the investigation in ukraine and how the tragedy of malaidsian airlines flight 17 may change the dynamic between the ukraine and russia. christians in northern iraq are facing persecution and threats from the new rulers of the region.

some of the flighvictims of flight 17. >> in a rebel-held stronghold, a squabble over control of the site where malaysian flight mh-17 was shot down. ukrainian service workers removed some bodies but nowhere knows where they are being kept or under what conditions.

international monitors from europe gained limited access to the site. but they say they are yet to work out a deal that would allow international forensic teams to access the area safely. malaysia airlines has a final breakdown of the victim's origins, 193 from the netherlands including a student with dual dutch and american citizenship. 43 malaysians were on board including two infants. if flight 17 was, in fact, was shot down by pro-russian separatists, everyone will wants to know who gave the order. al jazeera's paul beban tells us about one man believed to be running the show in eastern ukraine. >> he is mysterious and fearsom, usually seen until fatigues and a pencil mustache, igor str a ral which trans lates as igor, the shooter" has an extensive resume of working and fighting in the shadows. a veteran of the post soviet conflict in serbia and chechnya

and in crimea and now, commanding the pro-russian rebels in ukraine. >> he has a very prolific and long career as someone who has participated in a lot of these wars and campaigns for pan-russian causes. >> he once lived in moscow where his neighbors knew him as igo igor gerkin, a polite man who wore a tie and walked to work. analysts say that buttoned down persona was a front for a much more plcomplicated character. >> he is colorful, a historical reenactor, wrote a series of battlefield diaries for chechnya and bosnia. he is kind of very rom antic, you know, nationalistic figure. >> a little more than a half an hour after the malaysian airline 777 plunged into a wheatfield

links to a plane burning in the distance and on vk. there was also a message which read in part: we warned them not to fly in our skies. the site belonged to igo igor stralkof. the post was deleted and there are questions about its authenticity. nevertheless, it has intensefied the focus on the man many say is the experienced and ruthless undercover operative orchestrating the insurgency in ukraine and the person responsible for bringing down flight 17. paul beban, al jazeera. joining me now is nina crui chruscheva. good to see you. what do you make the of the situation on the ground hearing results the separatists respiratory therapists hampering international efforts? >> they are. we have seen that. we have seen vladimir putin say he was going to help and do everything in his power. >> pressure from german? >> pressure from germany but when he first came out.

when he first spoke about it, he did say russia would help. russia has showed no influence over but also not even a real desire to have influence. so what i make of the situation on the ground is that, like we have seen for months now with puentein is that he says he is going to do something, but he is actually saying it just for the public consumption. >> how do you make his actions or lackof >> i think he is trying to see what he can get for his own image, his propaganda without giving up too much because he is in some ways at a crossroads, not that he -- you know, there was a lot of reports that maybe he cannot really aband on the donetsk's people's republic because russian nationalists wouldn't forgive him. putin has shown he doesn't forgi him and who doesn't. he says what he thinks is important and the nation goes with it. i don't think thhis reputation

would suffer a tremendous amount from that. i think that he, himself, schaz nots' decided whether he is going to continue to foster this it kind of -- or forment this kind of slow unrest or he is going to give up and kind of welcome the international community. and i imagine that he is trying to find the middle ground between the two. he doesn't give up too much for the international community and he is trying to go figure out how much to do that. >> he could have influence. do you believe this plane was inadverteventsly shot down and nowed covered up? >> yes, i do. i believe they did not plan to shoot the passenger plane or the military cargo plane. of course, russian propagandaa is working overtime now trying to tell us that it was putin's plane that was supposed to be flying on that same route and ukrainians actually wanted to kill president putin. so, it's very interesting to see how in russia, nobody not only putin admitted any responsibility because he blamed

it scarce on the ukrainians but also russian pundits, pro-kremlin pundits talk about this and try to skew it as a western ploy yet again, although, of course, what we are seeing -- i am embarrassed to be a russian right now once again. >> why do you feel that way? >> because arrest i look at the commaner showing international community, you would -- if you really have nothing to hide, if you really want to find out what happened, if you really want to help these people, don't offer empty condolences. actually do what is supposed to be done and suddenly, this is a crime zone and we don't even know what's happening. nobody is allowed in. what really warms my heart, i have to say, is that -- i don't know if you have seen pictures, some fantastic pictures from the dutch embassy, moscow and there are flowers, not only flowers but those notes. not of condolences but of apology. we apologize for russia, for

putin. >> with that said, do you see this resulting in the pro-russian separatist movement perhaps losing support? >> yes. i think. sharns feel nationalistic but they are not in the business of killing people sort of indiscriminately. what happened was mass murder. whether they did it intentionally, it doesn't really matter. so, it will. but, also from the profiles you just heard a very good profile of him, that doesn't necessarily mean he is going to bend down because he sees himself, what i have read, by him and of him, he sees himself as one of those descendants of the great russian ancients figures of fairy tales that are going to, you know, stands on the russian land and protect russia from western encroachment and, you know, keep russia authentic. >> in our final moments, could there come any good out of this? could this be a catalyst for

peace talks >> could be. but it depends upon basically the ball is in putin's court. so far, however, because it has been three days and really, putin didn't do much. i still think that he is trying to figure out whether he can avoid the peace talks, whether he is -- he can avoid being held responsible and how to do -- how to play both sides in some ways. so really doesn't give me, too much hope, but if is pushed into the corner with probably more sanctions, i think, on this problem, we talked about my idea the blanket sanctions would be probably in order by now because we have to be responsible for our leadership as russians. then he may -- he made that. but so far, he has been the same deceiving kind of kgb man that he ever was. >> we will see, nina kruschev, always good to see you? >>? >> thank you. imagine taking a flight across the world knowing that you're flying through a war zone. each airlinationses the danger

the flight path differently which means some planes fly closer to conflict areas than others. al jazeera looks at how airliners may deal with these certain types of situations. >> reporter: the federal aviation administration and agencies around the world routinely issue notices to airmen or nodems for short warning of hotspots on the ground. recent warnings have highlighted ukraine and syria. but each carrier assesses risks differently. some war zones fall right along or near major air tra portation routes. before mh-17's crash, airline flight klm and will you havetansa had been flying over the ukraine avoiding theluftansn flying over the ukraine avoiding t the. air canada had steered clear of the area. in a statement, air candidly tells "real money," as a precautionary money, we have been proactively avoiding airspace over the region for several months already. we do not foresee any impact on our passengers. however, as all major airlines

now divert flights to avoid the ukraine entirely, aviation consultant and retired commercial airline captain ross emer says: there will be an impact to passenger's bottom line. >> it's going to cost the airlines perhaps a little more money to take a longer route, a little longer flight plan, flight time, and eventually, they will pass that cost to their passengers in terms of ticket prices. >> july 18th radar images show almost no traffic over known hot spots like syria, pakistan and afghanistan. but flights to the mid east regularly fly over iraq unless a state officially restricts its airspace like north korea, airlines can take at that chance and fly over. every hour, hundreds of flights take off, and thousands are in the air somewhere around the world. some of these flights will knowingly travel above or near war zones. for example, planes traveling from johannes berg to london often fly over warring regions of africa using altitude as a

safety net. malaysia flight 17 was flying at 33,000 feet, a thousand feet above closed airspace. >> conventional wisdom suggests the higher planes fly, the lower risk they face from ground fire but the safest path is to avoid flying over conflict zones. however, that option sometimes comes with higher costs. >> this is all about money. what determines a route of flight is by the airline, by the dispatch, is the shortest line between two points. >> 2010 two points where hundreds of people lost their lives. duarte guardino. amount of al jazeera. more in just a moment. three bombs went off in bagdan saturday in the span of just 10 minutes. at least 27 people were killed according to log police, suicide bombers drove cars full of explosives into the area. an ult matum for christians in northern iraq from the islamic

state rebel group, convert, pay a tax or be killed. >> from the families being forced to flee. >> george is not his real name. we concealed his identity because he hopes to return to his hometown of mosul. he is as christian who fled with his wife when the ult matum was issued. >> they stopped us on our way out. they took my id and found out i was a christian. they took all of my money. i lived and worked all my life in mosul. >> his wife said all is gone. >> i begged them that the money and gold i had was for my son's wedding. they told us to leave or they would take our car. >> since fighters from the islamic state took control of mosul in june, holmes belong to go christians or anyone who opposes the group have been marked in red and confiscated. >> this is the closest we can get to mosul.

it's only 20s kimometers away from here. on thursday, the islamic state group issued a religious ruling and basically gave christians three options: either to convert to islam, pay tax known as gizia or be killed. >> ruling has terrified many. this church is now home fortens of families. i am be anwell is the priest. he fears for the worst. >> we have been targeted before but never to this extent. this group is hugh milating christians. >> some muslims in mosul and others under the control of the islamic state have became targets of discrimination. shia and shevik minorities are being killed, kidnapped or forced to leave. sunnis who oppose the group's extreme ideology are also persecuted. the islamic state has issued a set of rulesings imposing strict

teachings. many people are trying to cope and hiding their fears, but there are others who say they prefer such strict teachings over margealization and being ruled by a sectarian government. this presents an uncertain future for a country on the verge of disintgration. omar, on the outskirts of mosul. >> republican and six world hours have agreed to extend nuclear talks until november after both sides acingknowledgi they wouldn't meet the july 20th meeting. world leaders are trying to get iran to cur tale nuclear program in exchange for easing of sanctions. we will talk much more about the extension and the future of the talks coming up tonight in our deeper look segment. 8:00 p.m. eastern, 5:00 pacific. now to a developing story out of florida. a jury has slammed the r. j. reynolds tobacco company with more than $23,000,000,000 in punitive damages and $16 million

in come pensiontory damages to the widow of a smoker who died from lung cancer. cynthia robinson filed the lawsuit in 2008 after the florida supreme court tossed out a $145 billion verdict in a class action suit. it is the largest award for a wrongful death related to cigarette smoking. general motors can't escape more scrutiny. 54 recalls involving 29 million calls just this year alone have spurred congress into action. randall pinkston reports on the latest round of congressional hearings and the long time mishandling of defective ignition problems. >> i now live a life of chronic pain and limited abilities. >> before the latest senate hearing, the trail of tears from gm's faulty ignicians took center stage. survivors and families of victims describing injuries and deaths when cobalt and other gm cars lost power and airbags failed to deploy. >> he has to live the rest of his life bound to a wheelchair.

after nine months of his childhood were stolen due to him being hospitalized, i often ask myself why. robert buzzard blamed gm for not reveal to go customers or federal regulators fatal problems with ignition switches. >> opinion echoed by the senate commerce subcommittee holding gm executives' feet to the fire. >> it is very clear that the culture of lawyering up and whack-a-mole to minimize liability in individualized lawsuits killed innocent customers of general motor. >> subcommittee claire mccaskill focused on good mornim michael ? >> i don't get how you and lucy dougherty have their jobs. >> mccaskill slammed him even

though company lawyers were warning about legal liability more than four years ago. >> what about the legal obligation to inform the board of directors? were they aware that your lawyers were telling you this car was going to cause you punitive damages? >> they were not. >> but gmce mary bara defended mil i kings? >> we have made mike millikin is a man of incredibly high integrity. >> federal authorities have charged the maximum fine for failing to reveal defects. senators are proposing tougher laws to prohibit corporations from paying fines imposed on corporate officers. impose up to 5 years' prison time for corporate executives who hide defects. but the proposal would protect whistle blowers from criminal prosecution if they notify regulators. >> the man in charge of paying damages to victims was also at the hearing, attorney ken eth fineberg says there is no cap on

compensation but there are restrictions imposed on gm on who qualifies for reimbursement. randall pinkston, al jazeera, washington. >> when we come right back, as one powerful storm winds down, another one begins to threaten southeast asia. from luxury liner to the scrap heap, the painful voyage of the costa concordia. vé

presents... holy money only on al jazeera america heap, the painful voyage of t

after wreaking havoc on nabors, super tie fon ramussen slams into vietnam. the storm toppled trees and billboards. most were prepared. 2000 people were evacuated to save zones. the typhoon caused flights to be delayed or cancelled. meteorologist rebecca stevensen on the latest and another storm moving through. >> it's pretty active in the pacific right now. this has been falling apart as it's moving right across the china and northern vietnam border. currently, it's moving across that terrain which is pretty rugged and rocky, dumping a lot of rainfall and gusty winds but not nearly as strong as it was earlier when it slammed on shore about four to eight inches of rain is what came with ramussen

as it tracked right across the area. now, the hardest hit, some of the places we are hearing a lot about flooding and the amount of rainfall was in the western area that is going to get impacted by this next typhoon. it's not a typhoon yet, but currently k the wind speed sustain clocked at 80 mile 80-mile-an-hour. it's well past what would be a category 1 hurricane in the u.s. you can see matmo making its way gradually to the sfwheft. it's not going to make landfall to the philippines. the track of this is country starting in to wednesday, tuesday, wednesday, making its way towards north of the area in china that got hit from ramussen. a lot of rainfall and and some powerful winds with this. but western muson in the philippines, northern philippines, will once get get hit with all of this rainfall, excessive amounts for only more flooding. now, let's talk rainfall in the

u.s. and our eyes are on the southeast into florida. boy, we are getting hit hard here with some rain coming down heavy with the showers and thunderstorms from the line stretching right across southern georgia to the carolina and gradually into the villagers but moving offshore. we will did he have virginias, but moving offshore. more showers to these areas for the next 24 hours whereas in the pacific northwest, it's been dry weather, this primary concern and the winds are getting stronger. we are getting 31 mile per hour gusts in seattle and it is stronger than that on the east side of the cascades where we have our massive wildfire complexes. the carlton complex now is expanded in side. the problem is that the smoke from the wildfires no longer is shifting southward but now heading off to the east and now, we have air quality that is

called po"poor" from old mass io montana. >> keep us updated, rebecca stevenson. two years after it capsize killing 32 people, the costa concordia is destined for the scrap heap. a look at the economic and emotional toll of this disaster. >> reporter: broken and bolted together by tons of steel to try to make her sea worthy again, the cost a concordia is preparing for her final voyage. and so, too, is the tiny island where they came to be so tragically two and a half years ago. what's so striking when you come to julio isn't just how big the cost a concardia is or how broken it is. it's how it's become embedded in this island story. >> in january, 20s 12, the mayor of giglio found himself coordinating the rescue operation after the cruise liner collided with rocks.

32 people died on that cold winter's night. since then, the island has been transformed. >> translator: not only psychologically. this matter has affected our way of life over the past 30 months. it also strongly affected our economy and our way of living here. winters were beautiful and silent. today, they are very busy. the soul of the island has changed. >> it's crystal clear waters always brought the tourists to giglio but intrigue has attracted many, many more. giglio's restaurants and hotels have been bolstered, too, by hundreds of salvage workers who have made this island their home. >> that's until the costa concordia leaves. some here want the local legacy of the ship wreck to be more than the dollars pumped into the economy. franka is collecting signatures calling for part of the structure used to secure the ship to be left and turned into

a dive site. >> today, these platforms give new life to the area of the sea which was destroyed, removing them would be the true damage to the environment. >> what happened here had the potential to destroy giglio. when the ship leaves, there will be mixed feelings. a new chapter will begin. but this island will never forget what the costa concordia brought to its shores. emma hayward, giglio. >> it will be towed on monday. the trip to genoa is expected to take about five days. 45 years ago today, two men were preparing to complete mankind's greatest voyage crossing the final 60 miles to the surface of the moon. we will talk to one of those men coming up next.

welcome back. sunday is the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing. while people around the world watched it live, after tstronau

nauts were busy working. >> i am irabout the only person around who doesn't have t.v. coverage. >> two men would spends nearly a day on the moon gathering rocks and conducting experiments. john seigenthaler spoke to aldrin about his life after the apollo 11 mission. >> i wouldn't know how to compare it with something else because it has been a very eventually 45 years i have been doing that the best i can. and recently, since i sort of switched from unique or benefits, earth and moon, to unique or benefits, earth and mars and evolved a system that is the transportation system. we have to build to that. >> you see the future of the space program or space programs

as mars, as landing on mars? >> absolutely. yeah. we have smart people in human space flight. we have smart people in science, robotic asteroids, but they don't think about joining together. i have been a very proud person in one country being able to do thin things. all nations should participate in that. people have to realize if they want to maintain greatness, like we did in the '60s, they have to recognize it's going to take more than the half a percent of our budget as much as we are in debt and if we want to lose our greatness, we establish people supporting neil, mike, and i, to help point out this greatness.

we want to do that, we have to pay the price. >> we will watch and see whether the united states is willing to do that dr. aldrin, it's good to see you? >> thank you. >> buzz aldrin speaking with john siegenthaler. we should point out neil armstrong who spent two and a half hours walking on the moon with him died two years ago. in a 2009 interview with the guardian, he said he was very worried for their safety. he rehirtired from nazi in 1970d went to work for the state department and was an executive at the national air and space museum and the smithsonian as well as ltv arrerospace. >> will do it for this hour. i am thomas drayton. "talk to al jazeera" is next t we will leave you now with more images of passengers last on malaysian airlines flight 17. ♪ what's the difference between

gay marriage and straight marriage? i said, well, there really isn't a difference. >> in 2008, voters in california approved proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in the state. two couples challenge the law in a case that went to the u.s. supreme court. half of the plaintiff team is chris perry and sandy steer. >> you grow up believing you are a second-class citizen from the moment you recognize you are gay or lesbian. and until recently, you didn't think you ever would be